During August every year, the Foundation holds a six day Summer School and knowledgeable theosophical speakers provide a great variety of inspiring talks and workshops.

It takes a year of planning and dedicated work by the organising team and speakers to produce an exciting and stimulating Summer School programme, and the lecturers, study leaders, workshop leaders and therapists make the week very memorable and enjoyable.

There is a different theme each year and the school takes place at different venues around the country. The School is very welcoming and there is always something for everyone: yoga, meditation, lectures, study groups, workshops, and many interesting practical sessions after lunch.

The School caters for beginners and seasoned students and participants look forward to the next year’s school with anticipation. The 2018 School will be held at Wills Hall, University of Bristol. This has always been a popular venue as it offers both en-suite and standard accommodation, a spacious conference hall, pleasant grounds as well as excellent vegetarian meals served in a refectory reminiscent of the Harry Potter films.

The theme for 2018 will be “The Pillars of Wisdom”.

Information and reviews for previous schools are below.

Summer School 2018

Once again we will be returning to Wills Hall, the University of Bristol for this year’s School. Wills Hall is on the outskirts of the city on Clifton Downs and near to the Avon Gorge and the famous suspension bridge. The comfortable accommodation consists of single en-suite and standard rooms. The food will be completely vegetarian.

The theme for the week is “The Pillars of Wisdom”. This years prestigious Blavatsky Lecture will be given by the National President of the Theosophical Society and Summer School Director, Jenny Baker

If you support the Theosophical Order of Service, you are invited to attend the AGM held at the School on Monday afternoon. The afternoons are free time with the choice of various workshops apart from Wednesday when there is an outing to Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s famous ship SS Great Britain.

Day visitors are most welcome. Please see the application forms for both residential and day delegates for the cost of the School. Some bursaries are available; you can contact the bursar by writing to The Bursar, The Theosophical Society, 50 Gloucester Place, London, W1U 8EA or email at bursar@theosoc.org.uk. Discounts are available up to the end of May. Summer School is one of the best ways to deepen one’s knowledge of theosophy while enjoying the company of other seekers of Truth.

Jenny Baker,
Director of Summer School

Summer School 2017

Reviews

The theme of this year’s summer school was ‘Many Paths, One Goal’ and true to this All-Embracing, Universal Gnosis, I had the good fortune of attending the same in Rednall, Birmingham. As a fourth time visitor to the United Kingdom in the last decade, this year I visited England with a special intent for it to be a Heritage Summer! Through the quaint bookstore Watkins and then down the road from Baker Street I found my Indian love for Theosophy at 50 Gloucester Place. Many Paths, One Goal has been my very sumptuous, soul reviving one week residence – an inner Adyar! (Adyar – T.S. International Headquarters which I visited in 2007).

To begin to write a review of something as special as a diverse group of people from different parts of a country and even the world, congregating and immersing in communion (of sorts), one can only begin with delight right at the first step. The published programme of lectures, workshops and study groups was like the quintessential Golden Gates, clear enough for a fresh entrant to begin study and perceptibly high and far-reaching to know that one is entering…. a place, a realm, a time-space and in reality ‘Knowledge.’ To speak more practically though, and of course by way of a compliment, it caused me a few moments of heartache to try and choose which option to take in each category! Delight is not easy, especially if it is going to consume you – full and plenty!

The Way of the Sun – Cosmic and Human, The Path of Return – Building a Body Of Light, Cycles Of Eternity, and Chi Kung were the courses I took. These gave me a very good, sweeping, coverage of the Esoteric heart of Theosophy, its historical appearances and unfoldment, the ubiquitous ways in which it surrounds us even in contemporary, current or new world evolution, and also encased me in the rich, high-beam focus of the energy of study and practice. To appreciate Theosophy is to commit oneself to its learning for all of one’s life, but that doesn’t take away from the immediate appreciation of the devotion present in the visual power of the presentations – some magnificent, some enchanting, some so workable and practically effective with diagrams and worksheets. If it is difficult to process it all, it is equally improbable to find your attention lapse. I love to share here that it is perhaps for the first time in all my academia exposure that I have found multimedia so not to be an excess or extravagance.

The experience extends to all other presentations as well – ones that formed the umbrella to the historical structure or the development of Theosophy, the precious qualities of the Theosophical Movement, or the work of the Theosophical Order of Service, along with the sheer luxury and lush abundance of the Musical Presentation towards the end of the week. The group meditations were such a simple, potent place to both invoke and settle ourselves in all this at the start and end of each working day – one experienced the focusing of our many selves into the one Flame lit, as also our one heart radiating blessings unconditionally in all directions unbound…. perhaps it is a subjective sheer of sentiment that makes me look at it like this but search and belief when they condense make it worthwhile to make such a claim, a claim that gladdens the heart even as it expires!

On a more outgoing note, I took the opportunity to collect as many email Ids as I took pictures and promised to send them across, in the likeness of someone who did point out later that it is such a treasure trove of good socializing as well! It was great to see and meet many senior age people, so unbelievably buoyant and exuding untainted enthusiasm, the vibrant shine of seasoned and quieter intellects, the happy expectancy of food and the discipline in the vast majority (making an exclusion of myself in clear gratitude), and the quiet, pauseless marshal service by those kept busy organizing it all!

Amongst us, we had writers, poets, artists, a priest and the lovely Hillscourt property – green lawn and a lily pond to reflect in. A walk into a National Trust estate – Whitwick Manor and Gardens was a lyrical ode to beauty, replete with nature, art and family. A group that has put its heads together, made contact in laughter and conversation, travels a good long way to make the journey complete.

G.B. New Delhi, India

This year’s summer school at Birmingham offered interesting speakers and varied activities. But the highlights for me were the yoga and chi gung classes offered by Mike Hall. Mike, a past president of the TS in Scotland, is a playwright, producer and director, lover of classical music and of course a dedicated yoga, tai chi and squash coach. His classes provided the perfect balance to the intellectual side that usually dominates such events. He says:

‘My ideal is that people moving towards higher consciousness, on the path of return, will need to build the light body (etheric). Tai chi and chi gung are requisites for attaining this. Based on the understanding that the great masters were aware of the relationship between sacred anatomy and the physical body, they believed enlightenment could be achieved while still in the physical body.’

Mike feels good about what he’s doing because it’s helping us become lighter while on the ascending path. The exercises, interspersed with some profound pearls of wisdom, certainly left me feeling a good bit lighter than when I arrived! Thanks, Mike. Everyone who attended loved your classes.

Summer School 2016

Reviews

When I received the leaflets and the letter outlining directions to the venue, I began to feel a heightened excitement about the quickly approaching Summer School at Bristol University on 6th August. I checked out the Wills Hall residential site on google and what a distance it appeared that I had to cover by rail from Durham. The travel, however, was the only hardship I experienced during a fantastic week. On leaving the train at Temple Meads, I bumped into a fellow student who became my constant companion throughout the week and shared a taxi to Wills Hall. We checked in at the registration office and after receiving our keys and directions made our way to our rooms. I had a very clean and decent room ensuite and it was very close to the Conference Hall where most of the lectures took place. At 6pm we had our first evening meal and it was at this point that I met someone else who for the rest of the week I accompanied to Yoga each morning. I found the meals to be of very good quality and a decent variety of choice and the staff were very attentive too. The Grand Dining Hall with a high ceiling, exquisite wood panelled walls and beautiful chandeliers was reminiscent of a scene from a Harry Potter movie. Click here to read more….

Summer School 2015

Reviews

The title of the School was “The Relevance of Theosophy: Spirituality in Daily Living” and the talks included “Soul, Personality and the Rainbow Bridge”, “Living in the Presence of the Soul”, Being a Theosophist in Principle”, “Embracing the Dragon of Wisdom” and “ Living the Mystical Heart of Theosophy”. We also held eight three day Study Courses with titles such as “The Essential Tools of Practical Theosophy”, “Theosophy for Beginners “, “ The Secret Doctrine” and “ Meditation”. the School was held from July 31st to August 6th at Hillscourt, the conference Centre of the NASUWT, at Rednall. The School, which is open to both members and non-members of the Theosophical Society, attracts people from all over the world. This year we had delegates from Wales, Scotland, Brazil and New Zealand. Read more…